She reached out and tugged at Shao Mingyuan, lowering her voice: “Big Brother Shao, I know what’s wrong now.”

The young general’s heart stirred at that “Big Brother Shao,” his eyebrows and the corners of his eyes full of smiles: “Ah?”

Qiao Zhao’s mouth twitched. She wanted to roll her eyes at someone, but inexplicably felt that his silly grin looked exactly like a long-haired big dog she had raised years ago in Xingzi Alley—dopey and foolish.

Later, that long-haired big dog ran away from home and never returned. Grandfather said it was because its time had come, and it didn’t want her to see it die, so it quietly hid itself away.

At that time, she had been very sad for quite a while.

Qiao Zhao couldn’t help but glance at Shao Mingyuan, thinking: If one day he disappeared, what would happen to her?

Perhaps she would feel somewhat melancholy.

With this thought, Miss Qiao couldn’t bring herself to roll her eyes. She pulled back her wandering thoughts and said in a low voice: “There are no young women in this town.”

Never mind a coastal town where social customs were relaxed—even on the streets of the Capital, quite a few young ladies were strolling about with their maids and matrons.

This small town had many passersby, yet not a single young woman could be seen. It was far too strange.

Shao Mingyuan swept his gaze around, and indeed, as Qiao Zhao had said, the vast majority of pedestrians coming and going in the town were men of all sorts. Occasionally, a woman could be seen, but they were all over thirty or forty years old.

And those people were also sizing them up, their gazes all falling on Qiao Zhao and the two maids.

This anomaly was quite obvious—once someone pointed it out, it could be noticed. But if no one broke through this layer of window paper, it became a case of being in the dark right under the lamp, often very difficult to perceive.

Shao Mingyuan prided himself on having good observational skills, yet he only realized it after hearing Qiao Zhao say so.

Of course, this had much to do with his attention never being placed on other women.

The young general became alert in his heart, secretly reminding himself: In the future, he couldn’t have such oversights again. Whether men or women, for him, people in this world were divided into only three categories: Zhaozhao, good friends, and others.

The group walked to the front of a tavern.

“Let’s go in first and then talk.” Shao Mingyuan took the lead and walked in.

Coastal towns were different from the prosperous Capital, lacking the enthusiasm of tavern workers in the Capital. The worker at this small tavern lazily glanced at Shao Mingyuan and the others until he saw Qiao Zhao’s group of three. When he suddenly jumped up, his face changing dramatically: “Leave quickly, leave quickly!”

Yang Houcheng slammed the table and sneered: “Isn’t this a tavern? What sense is there in driving away customers in broad daylight?”

Only then did the worker see that the small tavern was filled with tall, burly men.

His heart sank: Trouble. Just now, he had seen the three young ladies at first glance and hadn’t noticed that the other party had so many people.

Hearing the commotion, the shopkeeper hurried out and glared fiercely at the worker: “How do you do your job?”

The worker looked aggrieved.

He didn’t want to be like this either, but the three young ladies shone like gold—who wouldn’t notice them first?

“Distinguished guests, our tavern is too small, we can’t seat all of you. Why don’t you move to another place?”

Yang Houcheng grabbed the shopkeeper by the collar and said coldly, “Cut the nonsense. We’re hungry and want to eat now!”

The shopkeeper’s eyes rolled back from being choked. He kicked the dumbstruck worker and scolded: “Why don’t you quickly seat the guests!”

The small tavern happened to have a private room. Qiao Zhao and a few others went in, while the rest remained in the main hall.

After ordering food, the worker fled in panic. Yang Houcheng sneered: “These soft persimmons just won’t drink the toast and have to be forced to drink the penalty wine.”

While waiting for the food to be served, the few discussed the discovery they had just made.

“Why are there no young women in this town? Could the rules here be even stricter than in the Capital, requiring young women to never step foot outside their homes?” Yang Houcheng gulped down some tea and muttered.

Chi Can glanced at Qiao Zhao and said indifferently: “Rather than wild guessing, why not ask directly?”

Yang Houcheng looked toward Shao Mingyuan.

Shao Mingyuan smiled: “Shixi is right. Asking directly is best—simple, crude, and effective.”

Different people require different methods of questioning. For people like tavern workers, asking directly was best.

Chi Can patted Yang Houcheng’s arm: “Yang Er, this matter still has to be left to you.”

“Why is it me again? Just now, I was the one playing the bully. Can’t we switch to someone else now?”

“Because you look the most like one. If I had to do it, how much effort would that take?”

Yang Houcheng chuckled: “If we were playing young ladies, Shixi, you’d be most suitable.”

Chi Can’s face darkened, involuntarily recalling the incident when he had disguised himself as a woman to infiltrate the Li residence.

At the time, he had thought nothing of it, but now thinking about it, could it be that Third Miss Li had seen him looking better in women’s clothing than she did, making her feel inferior?

With this thought, Chi Can felt endless regret and naturally had an even worse expression toward Yang Houcheng.

Yang Houcheng knew he had misspoken and smiled awkwardly. Just then, the worker came in carrying food and wine. After the worker had set down the food and wine, he reached out and grabbed the worker’s wrist, saying viciously, “Stand against the wall!”

Yang Houcheng had great hand strength, and the worker’s wrist immediately felt a piercing pain. He could only obediently stand against the wall and ask pitifully: “What other orders do you have, sir?”

“Why are there no young women to be seen here?” Yang Houcheng asked directly.

At these words, the worker’s face immediately changed dramatically, and he shook his head repeatedly: “This humble one doesn’t know about this, doesn’t know—”

“Related to the government?” Shao Mingyuan suddenly asked.

Something that could make ordinary people so reluctant to speak was likely connected to the local government.

The worker was already stunned by Shao Mingyuan’s question.

Shao Mingyuan placed his hand on the table, and when he withdrew it, a piece of broken silver remained on the table surface. He said calmly, “We’re just passing through here. We’re asking about this matter with no other intention, purely because we discovered there are no young women here and are worried about my fiancée’s safety. I hope you can clear up our confusion. You speak and we listen—that’s all there is to it.”

Fiancée?

Chi Can’s mouth twitched, frightening Yang Houcheng into quickly kicking him under the table.

Young Master Chi, since we’ve all withdrawn, don’t cause trouble now. Fiancée is fiancée—Miss Li didn’t even object, so let’s first get the situation clear, that’s the proper thing to do.

Chi Can tugged at the corner of his mouth.

He was just shocked at how thick Shao Mingyuan’s face was. Why was Yang Er kicking him? That bastard!

Miss Qiao, whom Yang Houcheng thought didn’t object at all, quietly clenched her fists.

Forget it, important matters came first.

Shao Mingyuan’s words made the worker hesitate for a moment. He looked around and lowered his voice: “Then this humble one will speak plainly. Our town has no young women, not because young women all stay at home and don’t come out, but because they were sent to the Japanese pirates by the officials!”

These words shocked everyone greatly.

Local officials sending young women to Japanese pirates?

The worker raised his hand to wipe away tears: “Two years ago, everything was still fine, but later the Japanese pirates came more and more frequently. To maintain temporary peace, the officials would select several young women from the town every so often to send to the Japanese pirates. Over time, the young women either died or fled—where could any be seen?”